System, method and computer readable medium for toll service activation and billing

ABSTRACT

A system, method, and computer readable medium for toll service activation and billing, comprises receiving fleet information at a toll authority via a toll rental entity, receiving a service request at the toll rental entity, sending toll usage data related to the service request to a third party entity, receiving a payment at the toll rental entity based on the service request, and sending a payment to the toll authority based on the toll usage data.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent application claims priority from U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 60/726,300, titled Toll Fee System And MethodUsing Prepaid Toll Pass, filed on Oct. 13, 2005, U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/759,937, titled Business Process For Toll Fee SystemAnd Method For Vehicle Registration, Invoicing, Opt-In Services, AndToll Violations, filed on Jan. 18, 2006, U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/763,097 titled Method And System For Toll CollectionWith Optional Service Capabilities, filed on Jan. 27, 2006, the entirecontents of each of which is incorporated by reference herein.

The present patent application is also related to U.S. Non-ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 11/125,521, titled Toll Fee System AndMethod, filed on May 10, 2005, to U.S. Non-Provisional PatentApplication Docket No. RTL008, titled System, Method, And ComputerReadable Medium For Billing, and to U.S. Non-Provisional PatentApplication Docket No. RTL009, titled System, Method, And ComputerReadable Medium For Billing Tolls, filed on Sep. 06, 2006, the entirecontents of each of which are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to toll systems and methods and,more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to systems, methods,and computer readable media for guaranteed preauthorized toll serviceactivation and billing for third party renters and a toll collectionentities.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention incorporates by reference various informationincluding: toll fee tracking systems and methods for automatic,non-contact, high-speed toll fee tracking and payment of vehicular tollsusing a Pre-authorized Toll Pass, business processes for toll fee systemand method for vehicle registration, invoicing, opt-in services, andtoll violations, and to toll service systems and methods adapted toprovide toll service to third party entity vehicles without having tostop at a toll authority. In such a scenario, a toll rental entitygathers all third party entity vehicle information such as, for example,license plate number, vehicle registration state, vehicle make, vehiclemodel and the like from third party entities to provide toll service tothe third party entity vehicles. When a third party entity customerrents a third party entity vehicle with the toll rental service option,the toll rental entity receives such notification as opt-in servicetransaction from the third party entity and communicates the informationback to the toll authority/toll collection entity to support the servicefor the third party entity vehicle.

The third party entity also transfers opt-out service information to thetoll rental entity in the event the customer decided to change his/hermind to use the toll service. In the preauthorized toll service model,the toll rental entity guarantees payment to the toll authority for thetoll service. The toll rental entity may provide the toll usage such as,vehicle information, transponder information, location information, timestamp, and vehicle picture. The toll rental entity might all send thethird party renter information on demand for any future references.

If the customer is not opted for this service and violated the tollauthority/toll collection entity by not paying at the tollauthority/toll collection entity, then the toll authority/tollcollection entity identifies third party vehicles by license platenumber. The toll rental entity will then communicate with the thirdparty entity to obtain rental violator information for later violationprocessing. Instead of charging the customer by toll usage, embodimentsof the present invention charge the customer by the rental period.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for toll serviceactivation and billing, comprises receiving fleet information at a tollauthority via a toll rental entity, receiving a service request at thetoll rental entity, sending toll usage data related to the servicerequest to a third party entity, receiving a payment at the toll rentalentity based on the service request, and sending a payment to the tollauthority based on the toll usage data.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a method for tollservice activation and billing, comprises receiving fleet information ata toll authority via a toll rental entity, receiving a service requestat the toll rental entity, if the service request consists of an opt-infor service, sending a payment to the toll authority (or authorities)based on the service request, and if the service request consists of anopt-out for service, sending a payment to the toll authority if the tollrental entity receives a valid toll usage during the opt-out forservice.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, a method for tollservice activation and billing, comprises receiving a service request atthe toll rental entity, if the service request consists of an opt-in forservice, sending a payment to a toll authority (or authorities) based onthe service request, and if the service request consists of an opt-outfor service, sending a payment to the toll authority if the toll rentalentity receives a valid toll usage during the opt-out period forservice, receiving toll usage data at the toll rental entity, matchingthe toll usage data with information related to the opt-in for serviceand the opt-out for service, and sending a payment related to thematched toll usage data.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a computer readablemedium comprises instructions for: receiving fleet information,receiving a service request related to the fleet information, sendingtoll usage data related to the service request, receiving a payment froma first entity based on the sent service request, and sending a paymentto a second entity based on the toll usage data.

In yet a further embodiment of the present invention, a computerreadable medium comprises instructions for: receiving fleet information,receiving a service request related to the fleet information, andsending a payment based on the service request if the service requestconsists of an opt-in for service.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a computer readablemedium comprises instructions for: receiving a service request, if theservice request consists of an opt-in for service, sending a paymentbased on the service request, and if the service request consists of anopt-out for service, sending a payment based on a valid toll usageduring the opt-out for service.

In yet a further embodiment of the present invention, a system for tollservice activation and billing, comprises a toll rental entity that:receives fleet information, receives service requests, receives paymentsbased on the service requests, sends toll usage data related to theservice requests to a first non-toll rental entity, and sends a paymentto a second non-toll rental entity based on the toll usage data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and forfurther objects and advantages thereof, reference may now be had to thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a first flow diagram depicting messages sent between a thirdparty entity, a toll rental entity, and a toll authority in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a second flow diagram depicting messages sent between a thirdparty entity, a toll rental entity, and a toll authority in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a third flow diagram depicting messages sent between a thirdparty entity, a toll rental entity, and a toll authority in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating service activation in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating service cancellation in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an opt-in and an opt-out process inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a system in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, a flow diagram 100 is illustrated. The depictedmessages are sent and received by a number of entities or modulesincluding a third party entity 102 (such as a rent-a-car or othertransport rental company), a toll rental entity 104, and a tollauthority 106. The diagram 100 describes a fleet based data exchangewhere charges provided by the toll authority 106 are based ontransactions and charges provided by the toll rental entity 104 arebased on duration.

At step 110, the third party entity 102 sends fleet information to thetoll rental entity 104 which can store the information in a database 111and/or send the information 112 to the toll authority 106 which canstore it in a database 114. At this point both the third party entityand the toll authority can initiate their processes in parallel. Thethird party entity 102 sends a service request 116 to the toll rentalentity 104 indicating an opt-in or an opt-out of service for utilizing atoll tag or a toll reader device in a rented transport (or for utilizinga license plate). The toll rental entity 104 can store this informationin an opt-in and/or opt-out database 117.

The toll authority 106 sets up a toll rental entity account 108 with anaccount balance. This action may occur at any time in this process. As atransport with a toll tag (whose information is stored in a tag database113) utilizes the toll authorities' toll booth(s), toll data is gathered(and stored in toll data database 121) and matched 122 against the fleetinformation with license plate number or by transponder. The tagdatabase 113, the fleet database 114, and the toll data database 121 maybe the same database. The toll authority 106 detects the matched tolldata and charges 124 the toll rental entity account.

The toll authority sends 126 the matched toll data (including, forexample, a photograph of the transport or other proof of the transportutilizing the toll booth or other toll authority structure) and aninvoice to the toll rental entity 104 which sends 118 the toll data andthe invoice (for example, periodically) to the third party entity 100for preauthorized toll service. The third party entity 102 may also sendpayments 120 (for example, periodically) to the toll rental entity 104which deposits 117 capital in the toll rental entity account. The tollauthority 106 may also send 128 the toll rental entity 104 an invoicewhich can be paid 130. These steps may be performed in various orders.For example, the depicted payments can occur before or after otherdepicted actions.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for toll serviceactivation and billing, comprises receiving fleet information at a tollauthority via a toll rental entity, receiving a service request at thetoll rental entity, sending toll usage data related to the servicerequest to a third party entity, receiving a payment at the toll rentalentity based on the service request, and sending a payment to the tollauthority based on the toll usage data. The method also comprisessending an invoice to the third party entity by the toll rental entity,wherein the payment is sent during at least one of: consistently,periodically, gradually, completely, wherein the fleet informationcomprises at least one of a license plate number, a license plate state,a license state type, an RFID transponder identification, a vehicleidentification number, a vehicle owner, a vehicle make, a vehicle model,and a vehicle color, wherein the service request comprises at lease oneof: a transaction based service request, a location based servicerequest, a frequency based service request, and an occupancy basedservice request, wherein the receiving of the fleet information and thereceiving of the service request occur during at least one of: atdifferent times, at the same time, in real-time, in near real-time, inbatch mode, serially, and in parallel, and wherein the service requestcomprises at least one of: an opt-in for the service, an opt-out for theservice, a late opt-in for the service, and a late opt-out for theservice.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a flow diagram 200 is illustrated. The depictedmessages are sent and received by a number of entities or modulesincluding a third party entity 102 (such as a rent-a-car or othertransport rental company), a toll rental entity 104, and a tollauthority 106. The diagram 200 describes an opt-in (for service) baseddata exchange where charges provided by the toll authority 106 are basedon duration and charges provided by the toll rental entity 104 are alsobased on duration.

At step 202, the third party entity 102 sends fleet information to thetoll rental entity 104 which can store the information in a database 203and/or send the information 204 to the toll authority 106 which canstore it in a database 205. The third party entity 102 sends a servicerequest 206 to the toll rental entity 104 indicating an opt-in or anopt-out of service for utilizing a toll tag or toll reader device in arented transport. The toll rental entity 104 can store this informationin an opt-in or an opt-out database 207.

The toll rental entity 104 sends 208 a deposit to the toll authority 106for preauthorized toll service. Deposits are based on the service periodmostly by duration. Deposits may be a flat fee for the toll authority.In this model, irrespective of the toll usage, the toll rental entitymight pay the toll authority by the service period. Deposits can be sentreal time or by batch. This deposit is stored and is managed in adeposit database 209. As a transport with a toll tag (whose informationis stored in a tag database 201) utilizes the toll authorities' tollbooth(s), toll data is gathered (and stored in toll data database 224)and matched 214 against the deposits and/or the fleet information. Thefleet database 205, the tag database 201, the deposit database 209, andthe toll data database 224 may be the same database. If the tollauthority 106 detects the matched toll data the deposit account oranother account is charged. Toll tag and license plate recognition canbe used.

The toll authority preferably sends 216 the toll data daily that isunmatched in the deposit database 209 to the toll rental entity 104, butmay send such data at any time or at various times. The toll rentalentity 104 checks 218 the opt-in or opt-out database 207 in order torectify the unmatched data. The toll rental entity 104 sends 220 aresponse to the toll authority 106 with at least one of: an opt-in forservice, an opt-in on demand for service (whereby a customer thatinitially opted out and then changed his/her might to opt-in later),opt-out service or vehicle data not found. If the toll rental entity 104determines that an opt-in for service, or an opt-in on demand forservice is found, a payment is sent 222 to the toll authority 106. Thesesteps may be performed in various orders. For example, the third partyentity 102 sending payments 212 can occur before or after the thirdparty entity sends a service request 206.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for toll serviceactivation and billing, comprises receiving fleet information at a tollauthority via a toll rental entity, receiving a service request at thetoll rental entity, if the service request consists of an opt-in forservice, sending a payment to the toll authority based on the servicerequest, and if the service request consists of an opt-out for service,sending a payment to the toll authority if the toll rental entityreceives a valid toll usage during the opt-out for service. The sendingof the payment to the toll authority based on the service request occursirrespective of toll usage data.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a flow diagram 300 is illustrated. The depictedmessages are sent and received by a number of entities or modulesincluding a third party entity 102 (such as a rent-a-car or othertransport rental company), a toll rental entity 104, and a tollauthority 106. The diagram 300 describes an opt-in (for service) baseddata exchange where charges provided by the toll authority 320 areduration and transaction based, and charges provided by the toll rentalentity 310 are duration based. The third party entity 102 sends 302opt-in and opt-out information to the toll rental entity 104 whichstores such information in a database 303. The toll authority 106captures the toll data, which can be received 304 via a number ofsources such as OCR, RFID, and GPS, and stores the toll data in adatabase 305. This information is sent or is downloaded to database 307.

The toll rental entity 104 sends 314 an invoice to the third partyentity 102 based on the individuals or entities opting-in, and sends 308an opt-in, an opt-in on demand, or data not found to the toll authority106. Third party entity receives all the rental agreements/servicerequests from the third party entity and later matches the toll datafrom the toll authority. The toll rental entity also maintains a queuein the event the toll data comes before the third party service request.The toll rental entity maps toll data with the service request and sendsthe invoice to the third party entity periodically based on opt-in,opt-out or late/early opt-in and out-out. The third party entity 102sends 316 payments to the toll rental entity 104, receives 310 aninvoice(s) based on opt-ins or by the transactions noted above and sends312 payments to the toll authority 106 based on these invoices.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for toll serviceactivation and billing, comprises receiving a service request at thetoll rental entity, if the service request consists of an opt-in forservice, sending a payment to a toll authority based on the servicerequest, and if the service request consists of an opt-out for service,sending a payment to the toll authority if the toll rental entityreceives a valid toll usage during the opt-out for service, receivingtoll usage data at the toll rental entity, matching the toll usage datawith information related to the opt-in for service and the opt-out forservice, and sending a payment related to the matched toll usage data.The payment is sent to at least one of: the toll authority, and a thirdparty entity.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a flow chart 400 illustrating serviceactivation is depicted. At step 402, user information, vehicleinformation and service information is collected, at step 404, users andvehicle information is transferred to activate service, at step 406,information is received at a toll rental entity for service usage, atstep 408, information validation is performed for service usage, andtransaction Identification and a tracking number is assigned at step410. The flow chart further discloses vehicle information andtransaction information that is transferred or sent to a toll authorityat step 412, a received request by the toll authority to activateservice at step 414, and to update a toll authority database and a tollrental entity database at steps 416 and 418 respectively.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a flow chart 500 illustrating servicecancellation is depicted. At step 502 a customer contacts (via phone,computer, or any device) a third party entity. A vehicle is identifiedat step 504 and a check is made to determine if a service agreement forthe customer and the vehicle is complete at step 506. If it is not,further steps must be taken (for example, customer information orpayment information must be received) in order to complete the serviceagreement. If it is, a toll rental entity is notified to cancel theservice at step 508 and the cancellation is received at step 510. Acheck for the completed cancellation request is made at step 512. If itis, the cancellation is then send to a toll authority at step 514, whichchecks for toll usage by the vehicle at step 516. If no toll usage hasoccurred, the toll authority database is updated at step 518, thetransaction is acknowledged at step 520 and the toll rental entitiesdatabase is updated at step 522. If toll usage has already occurred,verified at step 524, a third party entity database is updated at step530. If the check for the completed cancellation request made at step512 is not complete, toll usage may be checked at step 526. If is not,the request for service cancellation is performed at step 528, and thethird party entity database is updated at step 530. The flow chart endsat step 532.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart 600 illustrating an opt-in and an opt-outprocess. As a vehicle passes a toll gate at step 602, vehicleinformation (and optionally driver and/or passenger information) iscaptured at step 604. At step 606, a determination is made whether thevehicle information is associated with a toll rental entity. If it isnot, a toll violation is performed at step 608 and the process ends atstep 626. If it is, at step 610, a determination is made if the vehicleand/or the customer/driver or an entity has opted-in to the service. Ifthe customer has opted-in and the deposit is received for thetransaction, the toll rental entity is updated for the toll usage. Ifthe toll authority could not match the deposit, the toll authority marksthe transaction unmatched and sends it to the toll authority for thedisposition status. The toll rental entity may pay the toll authority bytransaction for the unmatched usage or it may be grouped with the OPT-INor OPT-OUT or OPT-IN on demand and provide the payment accordingly.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a computer readable medium,or software of the present invention, comprises instructions forreceiving fleet information, receiving a service request related to thefleet information, and sending a payment based on the service request ifthe service request consists of an opt-in for service. The computerreadable medium further comprises instructions for sending a payment ifa transport rental entity receives a valid toll usage during an opt-outfor service, and sending the payment irrespective of toll usage data.

If the unmatched transaction is an opt-out process step 614, the thirdparty entity and the customer are notified of the process at step 616and a third party entity database is updated at step 618. If no opt-infor the service has occurred at step 610, the toll usage is sent to thetoll rental entity at step 620, an invalid transaction is removed atstep 622, and a toll rental entity database is updated at step 624

In another embodiment of the present invention, a computer readablemedium comprises instructions for receiving a service request, if theservice request consists of an opt-in for service, sending a paymentbased on the service request, and if the service request consists of anopt-out for service, sending a payment based on a valid toll usageduring the opt-out for service. The computer readable medium furthercomprises instructions for receiving toll usage data and matching thetoll usage data with information related to the opt-in for service andthe opt-out for service, sending a payment related to the matched tollusage data, and sending the payment to a toll authority.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a system 700 that comprises a third partyentity 708, a toll authority 710, and a toll rental entity 716 and 722.These elements include an on-line or graphical user interface (GUI) viaa third party entity agent GUI 704, a toll authority agent GUI 706, anda toll rental entity site 702. The third party entity 708 and the tollauthority 710 are connected to respective gateways 712 and 714. Inalternate embodiments, these connections may be wireless and may be madeto other elements that connect to the toll rental entity 716 and 722.The toll rental entity business services module 716 receives the rentalagreements from the third party entity and toll usages from the tollauthority/toll collection entity processes the information based on thematched or unmatched and also opt-in, opt-out, late opt-in/opt-out,early opt-in/opt-out of the transactions. The toll rental entitybusiness services module 716 utilizes the event queue 718 and the tollrental entity data services module 722 for queuing the data persistence.The workflow engine 720 gets the notification from the event queue andbased on the event queue business process will be executed. The workflowengine 720 uses billing system 726, a contract management module 728, athird party entity management system 730, a toll authority managementsystem 732, a usage management system 734 and a collection agency module736 for process execution. One or more of these elements may bepositioned in different areas within the system and the functionalityprovided by two or more of these elements may be provided by one ofthese elements. Components 716, 720, and 722 use billing system 726,contract management module 728, the third party entity management system730, the toll authority management system 732, the usage managementsystem 734 and the collection agency module 736 for the business processimplementation and execution.

Although an exemplary embodiment of the system of the present inventionhas been illustrated in the accompanied drawings and described in theforegoing detailed description, it will be understood that the inventionis not limited to the embodiments disclosed, but is capable of numerousrearrangements, modifications, and substitutions without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as set forth and defined by the followingclaims. For example, the capabilities of the invention can be performedfully and/or partially by one or more of the described or depictedelements. Also, these capabilities may be performed in the currentmanner or in a distributed manner and on, or via, any device able toprovide and/or receive information. Further, although depicted in aparticular manner, various modules or blocks may be repositioned withoutdeparting from the scope of the current invention. For example,information being sent to the toll rental entity can be sent to thethird party entity or to multiple third party entities or may be sent toone of the entities in lieu of the other. Still further, althoughdepicted in a particular manner, a greater or lesser number of elementsand connections can be utilized with the present invention in order toaccomplish the present invention, to provide additional known featuresto the present invention, and/or to make the present invention moreefficient. For example, a cellular phone, RFID chip or other electronicdevice can be used to send, receive, and/or store any of the datadescribed or depicted herein. Also, the information sent between variouselements described or depicted herein, can be sent via a wireless sourceand/or a wired source and via a plurality of protocols.

1. A method for toll service activation and billing, comprising:receiving fleet information at a toll authority via a toll rentalentity; receiving a service request at the toll rental entity; sendingtoll usage data related to the service request to a third party entity;receiving a payment at the toll rental entity based on the servicerequest; and sending a payment to the toll authority based on the tollusage data.
 2. The method of claim 1 comprising sending an invoice tothe third party entity by the toll rental entity.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein the payment is sent during at least one of: consistently,periodically, gradually, completely.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinthe fleet information comprises at least one of a license plate number,a license plate state, a license state type, an RFID transponderidentification, a vehicle identification number, a vehicle owner, avehicle make, a vehicle model, and a vehicle color.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the service request comprises at lease one of atransaction based service request, a location based service request, afrequency based service request, and an occupancy based service request.6. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the fleet informationand the receiving of the service request occur during at least one of atdifferent times, at the same time, in real-time, in near real-time, inbatch mode, serially, and in parallel.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinthe service request comprises at least one of: an opt-in for theservice, an opt-out for the service, a late opt-in for the service, anda late opt-out for the service.
 8. A method for toll service activationand billing, comprising: receiving fleet information at a toll authorityvia a toll rental entity; receiving a service request at the toll rentalentity; if the service request consists of an opt-in for service,sending a payment to the toll authority based on the service request;and if the service request consists of an opt-out for service, sending apayment to the toll authority if the toll rental entity receives a validtoll usage during the opt-out for service.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the sending of the payment to the toll authority based on theservice request occurs irrespective of toll usage data.
 10. A method fortoll service activation and billing, comprising: receiving a servicerequest at the toll rental entity; if the service request consists of anopt-in for service, sending a payment to a toll authority based on theservice request; and if the service request consists of an opt-out forservice, sending a payment to the toll authority if the toll rentalentity receives a valid toll usage during the opt-out for service;receiving toll usage data at the toll rental entity; matching the tollusage data with information related to the opt-in for service and theopt-out for service; and sending a payment related to the matched tollusage data.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the payment is sent toat least one of: the toll authority, and a third party entity.
 12. Acomputer readable medium comprising instructions for: receiving fleetinformation; receiving a service request related to the fleetinformation; sending toll usage data related to the service request;receiving a payment from a first entity based on the sent servicerequest; and sending a payment to a second entity based on the tollusage data.
 13. A computer readable medium comprising instructions for:receiving fleet information; receiving a service request related to thefleet information; and sending a payment based on the service request ifthe service request consists of an opt-in for service.
 14. The computerreadable medium of claim 13 comprising instructions for sending apayment if a transport rental entity receives a valid toll usage duringan opt-out for service.
 15. The computer readable medium of claim 13comprising instructions for sending the payment irrespective of tollusage data.
 16. A computer readable medium comprising instructions for:receiving a service request; if the service request consists of anopt-in for service, sending a payment based on the service request; andif the service request consists of an opt-out for service, sending apayment based on a valid toll usage during the opt-out for service. 17.The computer readable medium of claim 13 comprising instructions forreceiving toll usage data and matching the toll usage data withinformation related to the opt-in for service and the opt-out forservice.
 18. The computer readable medium of claim 17 comprisinginstructions for sending a payment related to the matched toll usagedata.
 19. The computer readable medium of claim 17 comprisinginstructions for sending the payment to a toll authority.
 20. A systemfor toll service activation and billing, comprising: a toll rentalentity that: receives fleet information; receives service requests;receives payments based on the service requests; sends toll usage datarelated to the service requests to a first non-toll rental entity; andsends a payment to a second non-toll rental entity based on the tollusage data.